


Your Hidden Side

by Jelaine_The_First



Category: Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic
Genre: Angst, F/M, Gen, I apologize in advance, Judal's way of saving people, if I dont know how to write Sinbad properly, no pairing I swear, platonic sinju
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-12
Updated: 2017-08-14
Packaged: 2018-12-14 09:55:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11780724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jelaine_The_First/pseuds/Jelaine_The_First
Summary: As Sinbad arrived in Judal's quarters, he was thrown into Judal's life before he was killed by Aladdin.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've been meaning to write this. Prepare your feels.

The Borg didn’t seem to slow down. No matter what Judal did, it kept speeding up towards nothingness; Into the darkness. Judal fixed his gaze towards the direction he's heading. On the bright side, the view was spectacular. Space, to Judal, wasn’t something foreign to him. He read about them in scrolls, but seeing it with his own eyes were something else. Given up on struggling, he sat silently in the Borg, waiting for the imminent death as his figure zoomed forward, further and further away from Hakuryuu and the world. 

"Shit," cursed him under his breath. "This is not how I wanted to go…" 

* * *

The following days in Kou was spent in silence. After Hakuryuu was throned as the Emperor, people had settled on the fact that Civil War has ended. His move to join Seven Seas Alliance at the last minute was considered as brash but bold, an effective one to be added. But some citizen didn’t agree with his act of rebellion, hence the empire was split into two factions: The ones supporting Hakuryuu and the ones who doesn’t. 

Meanwhile, the first thing Hakuryuu did as an Emperor was to hold a funeral for his best friend. Judal had been by his side when he started his journey as a fallen man, and ended up getting into a deadly fight with Alibaba and Aladdin, his former comrades. At some point in his time sitting alone at the throne, he contemplated whether all of this was worth it. 

The funeral was simple and quaint. If only Judal was more decent during his lifetime, more people would probably come, but Hakuryuu didn’t care. Judal had always been a memoir of his childhood. Something that is constant and doesn’t change. He will appreciate that even if nobody else will. As he stood there paying respects at the small altar, he heard light footsteps heading to the room. 

Three servants of the palace gently shoved the door open and was given a pleasant surprise. 

"Your Highness, our apologies. We didn’t know you were here," said them as they bowed and knelt on the floor. 

"Rise," replied him simple, and they did. "It is fine. I'm heading back soon." He opened his steps towards the door and the servants automatically gave way for him. 

The room felt suffocating. So much that Hakuryuu almost cried. As he walked away from the room, the servants stood there with eyes of pity. The Emperor doesn’t have to show tears to tell the world that he is suffering. 

* * *

The journey to Kou's palace has been an arduous one. It was pretty eventful, given that the country was in dire state and the factions were totally on each other's throat, so hoards of bandits jumped upon his carriage to steal whatever he has in store. Sinbad, by no means, was a weak man. He had travelled across the seven seas, made his own country and collected his own eight generals. If he was taken hostage -- or worse, killed -- by these petty thieves, he will dig a hole on the ground and bury himself in it. 

After two days of constant travel, he, Pisti and Sharrkan arrived at Kou's palace. They were greeted by Hakuryuu himself at the entrance. As they walked together to their quarters, the three can't ignore the sadness nesting in Hakuryuu's voice, the dark rings underneath his eyes, and how the Emperor's robe seem to bring his small figure down. They almost felt bad for the young ruler. 

They settled down in their rooms and went about their ways for the rest of the day. Pisti talking with some servants, staff and citizen. Sharrkan went training with some soldiers. And Sinbad hanging out with Hakuryuu for a while, asking about political issues and ways for the Alliance to help Kou. 

At one time during the night, Sinbad followed Hakuryuu to Judal's funerary room. He was greeted by the smell of incense and jasmine, and maybe a tinge of peach. A smell that reminded Sinbad so much of the naughty Magi. 

The door opened, revealing a spacious room with no decorations but the small crimson altar, filled with peaches in two bowls, incense burning at both sides, and a picture of Judal. 

Deep inside, he still can't believe that Judal was gone. 

Unconsciously, Sinbad walked into the room, inhaling more of Judal's essence. He does admit that he hated Judal's blunt attitude and rudeness, but the more he thought about it, the more he can't stop thinking that Judal was just a misguided boy. The smell in the room felt musty and calming, and if Sinbad indulged too much in it, he feared that he will produce tears in a matter of seconds. 

"Elders don't pay respect to younger people," spoke Hakuryuu with a soft smile. "So you can stand there and wait for me if you want, or just head back to your room. I know you're tired from your journey." 

The words flew through his ears like a breeze. He faintly remembered it even though it was just seconds ago. Sinbad's eyes were too focused on Judal's picture. Without his usual demeanour, Judal looks so quiet. And Judal is anything but quiet. The fact that Judal is no longer here crushed him from the inside. How Hakuryuu must've felt, facing this kind of torture everyday? 

Although he wasn’t required to, Sinbad still prayed silently for Judal. The boy might have been a huge pain in the neck, especially to him and Sindria, and he might be doing this just out of courtesy to Hakuryuu, but Sinbad can't deny the impact Judal has in his life, and just something at the tip of his tongue that he can't quite put a finger on. Something about his constant meeting with Judal that always stirred a turbulence in his heart, something quite unreachable between the both of them. 

If only they spent more time talking instead of bickering.


	2. Sweep Me Off My Feet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sinbad encountered one of Judal's faithful servant.

As he laid silently on his bed, his eyes scrutinized the intricate designs in the room. It all screamed Kou and her almighty history. Sinbad pillowed his head with his arms, the blanket shifted slightly as he moved. His clothes successfully discarded on the floor beside the bed. 

Detecting the first sign of sunshine creeping from behind the curtains, Sinbad got up from the bed and dressed himself up in his robes. Half an hour later, he finished with his morning routines and was putting on a thick hanfu, given by one of the servants last night. He thought that he won't ever put on a thick clothing on his skin, judging by the fact that he sweats easily, but seeing the weather that opposed his expectation -- it has been very windy and chilly since he arrived -- Sinbad thought that a hanfu might be a good idea after all. 

He was about to walk towards the dining room at the quarters down the hill when he came across Judal's funerary room. It just occurred to him that it was indeed in between his room and the paveway to the main building. 

"Might as well stop by," thought Sinbad. As cruel as he was to Judal, the guy's now dead, and he was ready to let bygones be bygones. Something must've happened to the younger man to have turned him into such a vicious killer. He clenched his teeth. Al-Tharmen was at fault, Sinbad knew that much, but he can't help but get curious over Judal's activity outside of his usual mischief. 

Stepping into the room, his nose recognized the strong incense smell coming from the altar. In front of Judal's picture, knelt a man, probably in his forties, muttering silent prayers for the dead boy. 

* * *

"Who was that?" asked Sinbad to Hakuryuu after they had their breakfast. 

"The old man? He's Judal's cleaner." 

They both sat at one of the pagodas in the palace yards. While enjoying the birds' morning chirps, Sinbad felt obliged to ask about the very few people who visited Judal almost everyday. 

"His name is Zhao Qi. He and Judal aren't exactly close but he does have Judal's respect," continued Hakuryuu. "I don't know what he did in the past, frankly speaking. Judal usually doesn’t have eyes on people without power." 

Hakuryuu's statement got Sinbad intrigued. 

* * *

It wasn't long before Sinbad spotted the man again at his quarters, sweeping the yards clean of dried leaves that had fallen overnight. He was leisurely sitting in front of his room, enjoying the cold breeze given by Kou's sky. Sinbad sniffed once; Okay, the cold's bite might be more than he can chew. He rubbed his nose, leaving it slightly darker red, and the sweeping man caught his actions, thus chuckling a little. 

"Are you cold, Your Highness?" 

Sinbad was startled by the voice. It came from the cleaner, from the looks of it. That, or he was greeted by a ghost, and Sinbad wasn't high enough to believe in such _syirik_ nonsense. 

"Give me a moment to start a fire. It can be a little chilly in the morning, even after the fog clears up," said him again. Zhao Qi, is what Sinbad recalled as his name. The man gathered up the leaves near Sinbad's room, put away his broom, and started a fire with some spark stones he brought. Smokes rose to the air, coloring the light blue sky with puffs of black hue. Zhao Qi seated himself beside Sinbad, making sure to keep his distance with the High King of the Seven Seas. He was only a peasant after all. 

"So," Sinbad cut their peaceful moment with his gruff voice, but still gentle. "How do you know Judal?" 

Zhao Qi gave out a fond smile, and he recalled his time with the black Magi. "Master Judal? I am nothing but his cleaner." 

"He has more than fifty servants, Hakuryuu told me, but only three showed up. Persistently, if I say so myself." Sinbad formed a knowing smile. "There must be a story." 

The other man shook his head while giving out a small chuckle. "There's no big story behind it. I guess Master Judal and me just… bonded." 

* * *

Judal gave the man a judging stare. His crimson eyes seemed to stab through Zhao Qi's figure standing weakly in front of him. He looked sideways, heaving a deep sigh. 

"It's not like I'm throwing you into a war. Go do your job." 

Zhao Qi almost beamed at the approval. It wasn’t like Judal has any powers on recruiting him and the other servants, but he for sure could get his ass fired. 

Judal, at that time, was nothing but a ten year-old spoiled brat, but his attitude, God forbid, was certainly not for the weak. Zhao Qi has a family of three he needed to take care of, hence he's taking whatever job thrown at his direction, even licking the floor clean. He's glad that he got a job in the palace that promised him a handsome reward. 

In the beginning, Zhao Qi can barely tolerate Judal's attitude. He has no respect for the elders, unless they're strong like Kouen or Koumei, but for the servants, his condescending stare can bring one to kill themselves. That's why they never looked at Judal for too long, lest it will give them deep depression. 

His job was simple; clean Judal's quarters thoroughly, and his experience living with three children made it easy for Zhao Qi. After two weeks, Judal grew used to his presence. 

"Where's Zhao Qi?" asked Judal if he didn’t see him when he wakes up in the morning. 

The servants whispered between each other, not knowing how to answer because they themselves don't know where Zhao Qi went. He wasn’t one to come late to work. 

"I said **where is he**?! Don't whisper in front of me and not answer!" 

From behind the scared servants, a figure was seen rushing towards his yard. It was Zhao Qi with slightly disheveled clothes. "I apologize, Master. I'll get on it right away." 

"Where were you?" asked Judal venomously, his red eyes signaled for the others to leave. 

"My son got sick and my wife is away. I have to wait for the apothecary to open his shop so I could buy some medicine," replied Zhao Qi in a hurried manner. He's still panting slightly from running towards the palace. 

His answer didn’t amuse Judal at all. "Like I care. Now go make up for your lost time! I've made sure you got plenty of things to do." 

Zhao Qi's legs moved swiftly inside and his hands grabbed the cleaning equipments in the store, hastily starting his job. Judal scoffed and walked away, tending to his Al-Tharmen business for the rest of the day. 

* * *

One late evening, Emperor Koutoku strolled into Judal's quarters with a nobility. Zhao Qi, who were uninformed of the unexpected guest, was scrambling to put away his tools. He peeked from behind Judal's room's door. The Emperor's presence there totally caught him off guard. Thank Solomon, he was almost finished for the day. On his way towards the exit of the quarters, he greeted the Emperor and his escort as soon as his gaze met them. 

Koutoku motioned towards one of the pagodas, and they sat on the benches stationed underneath, all the while exchanging pleasantries. With one hand wave, he called upon Zhao Qi. "You over there." 

Zhao Qi's body stiffened. "Y-yes, Your Majesty?" 

"Fetch us some peaches." 

The cleaner turned to his back and breathed out in exhaustion. It's been a long day for Zhao Qi, and he wanted nothing more but go back home and take care of his sick son, but since the Emperor was here, he had to serve every one of his whims. With much difficulties, he grabbed the ripe peaches at the low branches and placed them messily on a plate, delivering it to the Emperor's table afterwards. 

Before he could leave, the Emperor once again called on Zhao Qi. 

"Get us some drinks too." 

And hence, reluctantly he went to fetch some sake in the kitchen and two cups, wishing hard that he could go back home now so he could feed his sick child meds. However, his wish wasn’t granted. "Pour us drinks," ordered the Emperor without any remorse. Zhao Qi was beyond spent; He had went the extra mile to clean the whole pavement today after all. If he knew this was gonna happen, he would postpone his OCD needs to another day. Hence there he stood behind the Emperor and beside the guest, his hands barely lifting the sake bottle to be poured in when the cup was empty. 

Someone, please help me, prayed Zhao Qi silently. 

As if on cue, Judal flew in and landed on the empty land nearby his room. Everything done in silence like a cat. When he spotted the Emperor and a stranger inside his quarters, he almost exploded. This was a breach of territory! 

"Hey," said him low, but enough to reach the Emperor's ear. The ruler looked behind him and saw Judal standing menacingly, his eyes shining with dissatisfaction. 

"What is it, Judal?" 

"What the fuck are you doing at my place?" 

"Language, High Priest," retorted the Emperor, with the same amount of venom. "The other places were full with our guest's gifts, so I thought of searching another place to have a little chat." 

"Go elsewhere. I am tired and I don't want to hear your gossiping within my earshot. Besides, that is _**my**_ servant, not yours," spoke Judal acting posessive. 

The Emperor nearly slammed the cup he has in hand. He stood up from the bench. His breath ragged, encasing a thousand anger in each exhalation. "Such a disrespectful brat," he muttered under his breath. "Why does Al-Tharmen still keep you." 

Even though it was for his own ears to hear, Judal still caught it, and he shot the Emperor a sharp glare. His ruby eyes were casting tides as dangerous as the waters in Red Sea. "You little…" breathed Judal. 

"--Master Judal, please," interrupted Zhao Qi. It was a second later that he realized that it wasn't his place to talk, moreover when the Emperor didn’t ask for him to open his mouth. Zhao Qi bowed down his head immediately, his heart racing as he waited for his punishment, or maybe even death sentence. 

The black Magi glanced over the bowing head of Zhao Qi, and set a level stare at the fuming Emperor. He rolled his eyes. "Fine, I won't kill anybody." A scoff escaped his lips as he looked away. 

Meanwhile, Koutoku was leaking with silent fury, and he shot Judal an angered glare one last time before speaking, "You are to present yourself to me tomorrow morning. If you fail to show up, this servant will be beheaded." He opened big steps to leave the place, the guest skidded behind him, having scared by Judal's threat. 

When the two figures had disappeared from Judal's quarters, Zhao Qi felt his knees shivering. Now his life is on the line for a simple mishap, and a fight he's not even involved in (Technically he did butt into a business that was not his). His mind simply drew a blank, worry washing his body as he thought about his children back home. 

"You," called Judal. "Go back home." His eyes spelled something of boredom and fatigue. The lithe body turned around and sluggishly walked towards his room. Zhao Qi nearly forgot how young Judal was at the moment, and witnessing this situation reminded him that Judal was an eleven year-old boy who dared to curse in front of the ruler of Kou. 

He admired Judal's courage. 

His worry over his life, however, still gnawed at the back of his mind, teasing him with the worst possible scenarios. When he went back home, he took care of his family like it was his last day. As he closed his eyes to sleep, a tear slid down his face. 

The next morning, he was shocked to see Judal waiting at the Emperor's throne room, nodding off while waiting for Koutoku to come. A half-bitten peach laid silent beside him. He was probably snacking while waiting. Zhao Qi stood still in front of Judal, stunned by his willingness to do the thing he hated the most: Facing the Emperor. Very early in the morning, to be added. Judal was never a morning person. 

Overcame by emotions, Zhao Qi hugged the sleeping Judal tightly, waking the boy. Judal groggily opened his eyes, and was greeted with Zhao Qi's grateful smile and some tears. 

"Huh?" was the first thing he said, and Zhao Qi chuckled in between his hot teary breath. "Why are you crying old man?" 

Zhao Qi sniffed. "Nothing, High Priest." He wiped the tears off his old face. "Nothing." 

Judal blinked, yawned and grabbed back his peach that rolled away when he nodded off. "You're weird." 

It was later that day that he heard Judal got scolded bad by the Emperor, his scream can be heard from outside of the throne room. Thankfully Queen Gyokuen was there to stop Koutoku from hitting him, not that anybody ever cared if Judal was hurt. When Judal strolled back into his quarters, Zhao Qi searched for any signs of sadness on the boy's face. 

There was no emotion. 

It hurt Zhao Qi even further. A boy at such tender age shouldn’t learn curse words, being shoved around like a tool and look down on elders. 

And not be affected by any of his dark deeds. 

Once again, he wanted to hug the little boy, but Judal asked him a question before he could react. 

"When do you usually go home?" 

The man rubbed the back of his head, puzzled by Judal's sudden interest, but nonetheless answered him. "When dusk hits, High Priest." 

Judal nodded. "I'll make sure to have lots of trash for you to sweep, especially peach cores underneath that tree over there." 

Next day comes and the peach cores were twice as many, but Zhao Qi couldn’t bring himself to care. Instead, he cleaned them up with a smile on his face. 

* * *

Sinbad could say he wasn’t entirely astonished by Zhao Qi's story, but he was slightly perplexed by Judal's attitude. So he also has that façade, thought Sinbad to himself. As he glanced over to the cleaner, Sinbad waited for Zhao Qi's smile to fade. 

It didn’t. 

He shifted his gaze upon the brightening sky. It's almost noon, and the chill was gone. The fire warming them was dying, black soot rising heavensward. Sinbad's golden eyes followed the dark specks in the air, trailing it as it dissolved to the surrounding. Somewhere, somehow, Judal has a good side. Rukh doesn’t speak everything about a person. It's only a canvas. 

Because once it was dyed black, it can never go back.


End file.
